Thursday, June 27, 2024
I love retail therapy (shopping). I sometimes wonder if it is a throwback to the instinct of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. It makes us feel good to gather the supplies we need or don’t really need. We find comfort and safety in the things we surround ourselves with. However, the issue with this is that often, these comfort activities make us feel good at the moment, but the good feelings do not last. Along with retail therapy comes buyer’s remorse. Often, we extend ourselves beyond our means or spend money on things that are not essential, leaving little money for the essentials.
I will always remember how, in 2008, I discovered that my place of comfort was shopping. At that time in our lives, the girls were 10 and 8. Toby owned his own construction business, and I was still teaching, not yet headed into my adventure of becoming a pastor. When the building bubble burst that year, we turned from a two-income house to a one-income house. Toby had to stop paying himself to keep his business afloat. We had plenty of essential bills with two young children, as well as mortgage and car payments. One day, I was feeling particularly down and told Toby I wanted to go shopping at Target. He said we didn’t need anything at Target, and I just started to cry. I remember it so clearly, sitting on the edge of the bed, crying because I couldn’t go shopping. Now, it seems ridiculous to me, but at the time, I was devastated. Toby asked me, “Are you really crying because you can’t go shopping.” At that moment, I knew my priorities were way out of alignment.
Friends, God will never leave us crying on the edge of the bed. There will be times, no doubt when we sit on the edge of the bed and cry, but God will never leave us there. God will sit with us in our grief. God will carry us out of our grief. God will love us through the good days and the bad days. Money and things are like dust; they are meaningless and like the mist, but God has always been, is, and will continue to be. My prayer is that God is your place of refuge.
So What: What is your go-to for times of trouble? Do you need to rethink this? How can you focus on God being your refuge instead of things of the world?
Blessings: Kristyne
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